AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hannah had never worked so swiftly as she had now. My hair was not at the standard she would have liked, but I was dressed, my habit taken away, and my slippers on my feet in a mere fraction of the time we usually spent on my toilette. The drawing room was empty when I reached it, save for Felicity, who sat on a plush chair near the fire with a book on her lap.
“Do not mind me,” I said absently, crossing to the window and looking out at the empty landscape. The road away from Chelton was devoid of riders, and the winter sun shone happily down on the empty scene.
“Is there something of interest outside?” she asked.
“No. Which I am glad for.”
My behavior must have been odd—no, Iknowit was strange. Felicity seemed to sense the same thing, for she placed her book down and crossed the room to stand beside me. We waited at the window, watching the empty road and serene river feeding under the bridge and out of sight.
“What are we waiting for?” she asked.
“Well . . .” It was so silly I did not think I could speak the words aloud. I waited for the opportunity to watch Benedict without reservation. The hope that he would not leave, that speaking to me had halted his plans to further his future with the silver goddess. Anything that would imply his words had a deeper weight, that he meant it when he told me I was worth the risk, that my opinion held merit, that he cared what I thought. He could not say such things and not mean them, surely. But if he meant them as I’d longed for, then he would not leave forbusinessregarding Miss Dodwell, and this road would remain empty.
The longer we waited in silence, watching the river and the empty road, the more I felt my shoulders relax. Had I changed his mind? Surely he could not have left before I reached the window, as Jasper had not yet been pulled from his stall when I walked away from Benedict.
“I cannot help but feel that I am missing an important aspect of this activity.”
I laughed. “You will think me mad.”
“As a mad woman myself, according to many of my acquaintances, I am the last person to throw that particular stone.”
“Because you are shy?”
“Yes, my quietness and my anxious fits. It has given me cause to be teased and judged.” She waved a hand as though pushing aside her words. “But we are not speaking of me now.”
Movement in the far corner of the window caught my eye, and I noticed Henry ride toward the bridge. I sucked in a breath, waiting and hoping, until Benedict appeared behind his brother and the air blew from my lips in a gust of disappointment.
“Oh, were you hoping to speak with them?” Felicity asked. “They are off to see an estate for Benedict. He fancies the life of a gentleman farmer.”
A gentleman farmer. It was not lost on me that I had joked to his mother only last night about marrying a farmer. “It is good to have an estate prior to marrying. I think that will make his suit more attractive to the woman’s father.”
That certainly was how he had made it sound when he had discussed the business transactions he was undertaking. Perhaps Mr. Dodwell was providing enough funds to make the purchase of the estate possible, or some such thing.
“Who is the woman?” Felicity asked.
I looked at her shrewdly. “The silver—” I cleared my throat. “Miss Dodwell, of course. It was you who told me of their understanding.”
“Oh, that.” She cringed. “I was mistakenly informed about the supposed understanding. They did not have anything of the sort; Lady Edith merely wished it to be so. I believe Benedict paid Miss Dodwell special attention to show his mother that he’d given it his best effort so she would no longer press the matter.”
I leaned against the window frame, resting my shoulder partially on the cold glass panes, and faced Felicity. I had somehow lost the ability to stand upright and think simultaneously. Benedict was not purchasing an estate in order to form a marriage contract with Miss Dodwell? He was doing so for himself?
This new information spread a different light over the conversation I’d had with Benedict in the stables. He must have thought me the oddest creature when I was disturbed by his wish that I should be happy for him. I had thought he wanted me to find joy in his union with the silver goddess, and he had only asked me to be pleased that he was taking a large step toward his future.
“What purpose does he have in buying an estate if he does not yet wish to marry?” I asked. “James must appreciate his company here, and Henry hasn’t a notion of settling at Sedwick yet.”
“Perhaps he does have a woman in mind.” Felicity shrugged. “Or he is merely ready for a wife and a family. When their father died, he left Chelton to James and Sedwick Lodge to Henry, but Benedict only received funds. He has the most flexibility of the brothers, but he also must make a choice that will alter the rest of his future. It is no small undertaking.”
And here I had told the man not to let his heart guide his choices.This is strictly business. Numbers and cost versus the benefits, that sort of thing.But it should not be strictly business, not when it was his future at stake. I shook my head, wishing I could return to this morning’s sunrise and have a second chance at our conversation with this new information. I would have spoken so differently had I known.
A throat cleared at the doorway and a footman approached with a salver. I took the letter he proffered and thanked him.
“It is from the solicitor,” I said quietly, staring at the name and wondering what about my future was next to implode.
Felicity rested a hand on my arm. “I will return to my book and give you some privacy.”
I nodded, sitting against the window sill and breaking the wafer. My letter to Mr. Robertson had been a request for particulars about the inheritance and how I might be put in touch with my half-brother. It had been an introductory letter, of sorts, for he had yet to reach out to me.
Miss Northcott—
